Charlton Athletic have to be given credit for Ademola Lookman’s rise. The former player is now up for football’s most prestigious individual award.
As the nominations for this year’s Ballon d’Or came in on Wednesday, a potentially surprising inclusion came in the form of Atalanta’s Lookman. The Nigerian forward experienced a mixed bag of loan and permanent spells prior to his arrival at La Dea.
Enduring his first professional match in 2015, the 26-year-old started life at The Valley with Charlton. The academy product of the League One side featured 49 times and scored 12 goals over a one-and-a-half year period with the club. Experience in the Championship and League One earned Lookman a top move to Everton in January 2017.
With the Toffees, the Nigeria international played a small part in his first season with club – only featuring eight times. However, in 2017/18’s Europa League campaign, Lookman scored twice as he featured in six group stage matches. Seven league appearances and three in the cup were the other, fairly minimal domestic contributions.
The following season, the 26-year-old experienced his first loan spell. Bundesliga side RB Leipzig took Lookman in on a six-month deal, where he scored nearly every other game. Five goals in 11 appearances gave the Nigerian an opportunity to stay on at his parent club the next year, where he featured 24 times in the 2018/19 campaign.
As the subject of a £22.5 million deal with the aforementioned Bundesliga side, Lookman returned to Leipzig on a permanent basis in the summer of 2019. The former England academy player earned an exciting move to another top-flight club who promised him more game time. At just 21, Lookman signed on a five-year deal.
Disappointingly, the former Charlton player found himself featuring just 13 times – once in the Champions League – before being shipped out on loan to Fulham in 2020. However, 34 Premier League games and four goals later, Lookman established himself as a competent top-flight forward. When the Nigerian returned from this loan spell, an immediate move back to England saw Leicester City snap him up on a season-long deal.
With the Foxes, Lookman appeared in five separate competitions: the Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, Europa League, and the Conference League. Eight goals in 42 games caught the attention of Atalanta, where the 26-year-old has stayed since being bought by the Italian side in 2022.
In the two seasons that Lookman has featured with last year’s Europa League champions, the Nigerian attacker has scored 32 goals in 79 appearances. 2022/23 saw an immediate welcome to a permanent club, as he appeared in the majority of the Serie A campaign.
Last season is the crucial highlight of Lookman’s career so far. This 2023/24 campaign has now earned the 26-year-old a nomination for the Ballon d’Or. 17 goals in 45 games is impressive enough, but being a key part in European glory is even greater.
On the 22nd May 2024, Atalanta took on a record-breaking, unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen side – in the Europa League final – who had already picked up their first ever Bundesliga title. A lot of neutral fans were expecting Xabi Alonso’s side to brush La Dea aside and secure the treble, but Lookman had other ideas.
An early brace saw the Nigerian net two goals for Atalanta in the 12th and 26th minutes. This lead felt secure for the most part of the game, with both sides seemingly equal to each other. However, the final blow came from Lookman as he completed his hat-trick in the European final and single-handedly secured silverware for the Italian club. Not only did the 26-year-old help Atalanta win their first trophy in 61 years, he also became the only player to end Leverkusen’s near-perfect season.
The most impressive part about this final endeavour, was the 10/10 match rating that Lookman earned in football’s highly-coveted, L’Equipe. Becoming only the 18th player to receive this praise, Lookman has cemented himself in European history and subsequently earned a deserved inclusion in the Ballon d’Or running.
The 26-year-old’s former youth coach described Lookman as a ‘fantastic player’, who ‘works so hard’. His coach said he nearly cried when the third goal went in, due to the bond that they both had.
“I cried when the third goal went in and I don’t cry. I’m so glad for Ade – he works so hard. He’s a quiet lad, he’s sometimes misunderstood because of his quietness but he’s a great kid.”
